Aiming4Joy with Mary Paliath

Mary Paliath

Art. Poetry. Beauty. Wonder. Rebellious Joy.🌻 marypaliath.substack.com

  1. 12/30/2025

    As We Come to the End of this Year

    As 2025 draws to a close, I want to thank you. Thank you for taking the time to view my art and photos. Thank you for reading and listening to the words I write. Thank you for subscribing and following. While I still struggle at times with fear and anxiety around sharing, I have gotten so much more comfortable because of you! I am truly grateful! This has been a difficult year for a lot of us. Hopefully we can put it to rest with acceptance and move forward - stronger, braver and wiser from our experiences. May you and the people you hold dear, have a peaceful and blessed 2026. This is my wish for all of us: May we look for and find the beauty and wonder in the world around us. May we make time for and create moments of joy every single day. May we experience kindness and generosity, and may we give back the same. No matter how uncertain life is, may we have confidence in ourselves and know that we have what it takes to handle anything that comes our way. May we treat ourselves with love and respect, and remember that we are just as important as everyone else. May we ask for and receive help and support when we need it most. May we approach 2026 with self-understanding and intention, living one single day at a time. May we go to sleep each night feeling good or at least satisfied, knowing we did our best. And may we remember that each moment is a new beginning, and we can always start again. May we also remember that life is too short to take for granted. May we live with an open heart - with more love, reverence and gratitude. And may 2026 be the year we truly, fully LIVE. Get full access to Aiming4Joy at marypaliath.substack.com/subscribe

    2 min
  2. 05/09/2025

    I wish you had a happier life...

    We’re going into Mother’s Day weekend here in the United States. I wrote this poem about a year after my mother died. It’s been seven years now. We had a very - complex - relationship. Sometimes I still find myself searching, longing, wishing…for a deeper connection with her. Whether or not we have children, we all came from mothers. And regardless of the nature of the relationship, I think we can all probably agree that it is complicated. Happy Mother’s Day wherever in the world you may be. It’s Mother’s Day. I’m so grateful for my life, my son, my P. My friends who nurtured and supported me. I’ve made it this far. Thankful. And yet. There’s a longing. For what? I don’t know. I will pause. Stop striving. Stop planning. And wait. And listen. For the next step. I went and pulled out your photos. So young and vulnerable - a baby with a baby. So solemn. I wish you had a happier life. I wish I could have understood you. I wish I was more accepting and curious and unafraid. I wish I saw you as you were, not as the Mother I never had. What wonders and magic did you have within you that I didn’t notice or see? What would you have told me if I had been more patient or asked some fun questions? Who were you? I wish I could have known you. What would it have been like if I could have seen you without the filter of my pain? What would you have been like if you knew that someone accepted and loved you unconditionally? Or had given you kindness and support as a young woman? Thank you for bringing me into the world. For giving me life. For everything you’ve taught me. I understand now that you are a part of me. You are in me. I hope you are at peace. Perhaps even happy. Or maybe you’ll be able to feel it through me. I love you. Get full access to Aiming4Joy at marypaliath.substack.com/subscribe

    3 min

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Art. Poetry. Beauty. Wonder. Rebellious Joy.🌻 marypaliath.substack.com